Plain Jane

The Harbinger Murder Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Carolyn McCray

Narrated by: Don Hoeksema

Plain Jane: Brunettes Beware

A Patterson-style thriller with a dash of Hannibal....

A city paralyzed by a serial killer stalking the night, taking a most gruesome trophy.

The only thing standing in the murderer's way is an FBI profiler...recently released from a mental institution.

Plain Jane combines the swift action of Patterson with the macabre of Harris.

Just remember to keep the lights on when reading this one!

©2013 Carolyn McCray (P)2015 Beacon Audiobooks

I wish I could return this book!!!

What disappointed you about Plain Jane?

The reader literally sounds like the robot apps that perform text to speech. He doesn't even pause at the ends of sentences or change his inflection one iota. I could not listen to more than 10 minutes of it.

What could Carolyn McCray have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I should have known when it is described as "Patterson-esque". Patterson writes his books by such strict formulas that I believe the rumors that he has underlings who churn out books based on his formula like sweat shop workers making cheap clothes. This story sounds like it's from one of those formulas...the one where the FBI profiler goes so deep into the killers' minds that he can't always come out...yawn...

How could the performance have been better?

A live person could have been hired.

What character would you cut from Plain Jane?

Protagonists and antagonists.

Any additional comments?

You said I could return the last book I read if I didn't like it. but in practice you meant the last book I bought. Not very helpful.

Cringeworthy narration

I couldn’t make it thru this book. The story seemed decent, but the narrator sounded cartoon like, annoying and just plain bad. Ugh.

Just can't listen to this

I don't mean to be rude, but the narration is horrible. The story might be interesting but I finally just stopped and removed this from my device. Not worth the frustration listening was causing.

Worst. Narration. Ever.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The plot was fairly decent. However, the narration was terrible to the point of being ludicrous. The voices the narrator used for various characters made them sound like cartoons. His reading was stilted, his inflection was way off, and the number of mispronunciations was too many to count. Some of my "favorites" were "koop de GRAYce" for "coup de grace," "SKOOered" for skewered, and "karp deem" for "carpe diem." I find it hard to believe the author enjoyed this rendition of her work. As I mentioned before, the plot was not terrible (until the very far-fetched and disgusting climax), and some of the characters could have been interesting, but they really weren't developed well. Also, the constant use of the term "the profiler" instead of using the character's name, and the word "uteri," which is so uncommon, became increasingly annoying as the book went on.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Decent little twist at the end - not entirely surprising, but nicely done.

How could the performance have been better?

Anyone else reading this book. Anyone.

What character would you cut from Plain Jane?

The morgue attendant.

Any additional comments?

I hope Audible never promotes or sells another book narrated by Don Hoeksema.

Narration

Worst narrator ever. Mispronounced words. Story full of gratuitous sexual 'tension' distracting from what might have been a plot.